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Military Starships
"This is the Battle-Cruiser APX Indomitable, the third largest ship in the Space Core. We are accompanied by five destroyers, three cruisers and several dozen fighters. I demand that YOU alter your course fifteen by ten degrees relative, or sufficient countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this patrol group. Over." "This is Moon relay station Alpha three. Take Whatever actions you see fit Indomitable." ~Unbelieveable but True Stories, Vol VII ------- One of the constants of almost all sentient beings, nearly as constant as gravity will cause one mass to draw towards another, is the predisposition for sentient beings to engage in combat. Either among themselves, or with other species or races, for political or economic gain, for survival, or simply because their culture demands it. Under most laws, all spacecraft are allowed some form of armament, from point defense systems to defensive missiles to handle such things as pirates or indigenous beings, to such mundane things as asteroids. What separates Military starship from commercial or personal ships (for the most part) is they are built and intended to be used primarily for combat. Their job is to deliver as much damage to the enemy as possible while sustaining as limited as possible to themselves. Designed with that function in mind from the drawing board and design on upwards puts them in their own classification of ship. To this end most Military ships are under the command of either a government or a corporate entity (With licenses) who adhere to a rank system and chain of command. Putting this manner of hardware into service with anyone who isn't indoctrinated, or accountable to others is just asking for trouble. ------- Key Differences Several key differences between Military ships and regular ships are as follows: Keel/Spaceframe: The frame and keel of a military ship is stronger and able to withstand greater stresses than most commercial or private ships. without such reinforcement the ship would tend to warp and twist during the kind of maneuvers that may be required in combat. Likewise it strengthens the supports for the hull and makes it more resistant to impact and thermal damage. Compartmentalized: Most ships will have bulkheads and various sections of a ship that are able to be sealed off from others. Warships are designed to be honeycombed with a great many more sections so that if one is breached while during combat, the others around it will not be adversely affected. many of these sections contain "battle station" life support equipment, re-enforced bulkheads and independent supplemental power supplies. As well as the main systems being able to be bypassable and run in parallel instead of series. Armor/Shields: The hull of a warship is usually of a stronger reinforced material than regular ships, some may even have additional ablative plating installed over specific vital areas. Additionally once a culture has developed energy screens (Such as particle Shields, or kinetic dampening fields) The military ships will usually have the best of that type of field installed (oftentimes with a supplemental power supply for such) to assist with dissipating the amount of damage that could be sustained. Hardpoints: Many ships have eternal firmpoint points where equipment can be mounted, or modules attached. Military ships have built in hardpoints for weaponry. According to a great many engineers, any idiot can mount a photonic cannon on their skiff, but it'll tear itself loose after a couple of shots. Hardpoints are intended to have heavier weapons installed and mounted. Oftentimes integrated with the frame itself so as to ensure the weapons system is best able to be utilized and will not tear itself free during continuous use. Profile: Another key design of a military ship design is to offer a directional profile that can face the enemy and bring most of it's weapons to bear while providing the slimmest possible profile for the ship to receive return fire from. usually along the Frontal axis, or a Profile (Allowing for what is referred to as a "broadside" type of attack). Thus allowing for a frontal assault or "fly by" where the most weapons can be brought to bear while the enemy has a harder target to aim for. Three dimensional military strategy tends to play along lines of bringing the ship to "bear" on a enemy in such a way where their largest possible profile is available to target while offering the smallest of your own. ------- Classes of Military ships "Know the limitations of your ship. I served with a commander, back on a little frigate. the problem was he used to be XO on a Cruiser that had delusions of being a Pocket Battleship. Well it seems while I was on leave, he thought he'd take on a squadron of Corvettes the local pirates had been using to pick off luxury ships. Needless to say I like my new ship assignment just fine, though I am a little annoyed my favorite caff mug got blown up because of it all." '' ~Warrant Officer Damien Richelieu, IMC Destroyer "Phobos", Formerly IMC Frigate "Jasper" As previously stated, military ships come in all shapes and sizes depending on the time, location, species, designer, use and all manner of other conditions surrounding their design and construction. It would be nearly impossible to classify them all individually. Thankfully they tend to fall into several categories or "Class" of Ship. Mostly the Class of a ship is dependent on it's Size and armament. Note: There is a sub-class of ship, nicknamed the "Pocket" type of another class. For Battleships and "Ships of the line" (Combat types) this designator usually means that the ship is the size of the next class down (or near that) but has armaments akin to the ship it is named for. thus a "Pocket Cruiser" will be nearly the size of a Destroyer class, yet have armaments enough to match a standard Cruiser type. A pocket Carrier usually will have only 1 standard 12 fighter squad or less, instead of a Full several squadrons that a normal carrier would have, etc. Additionally, most ship classes will try for as much stealth refraction as possible. There is, however, a more specific type of ship, usually with less weapons than others in it's class, but with the added benefit of being much less easy to track or target with conventional means. These ships are generally designated as "stealth" Class of ships. (though it should be noted there are very few Stealth battleships, and no current record of a Stealth Juggernaut. The nature of those classes of ships makes it near impossible for them to be stealthy.) Finally, the Final additional classification or designation of a military ship is applied to one that is capable of operating in an atmosphere, listed as being an "Atmo" version of said vessel. Due to the nature of space combat, most ships will be engaged with other ships in the theater of space. There are, however, certain types of military starships that can be designed to operate in an atmosphere as well as space. Usually nothing larger than a Destroyer or Cruiser can be designed for such, due to the effects of resistance and gravity of most worlds. Though an "Atmo-Corvette" gives a bit more versatility in targeting Ground emplacements, or escaping a ship that can't follow through an atmosphere. ------- '''Classifications' The classes of military ship starting with smallest are: Fighters: Including the smallest of craft from Single-pilot Scoutcraft, Interceptors, and on up to Five Crew bomber craft. Fighters cover the smallest base of ships in use militarily, and are most often able to operate in space and atmosphere. usually lacking sufficient accommodation themselves, they will usually be based out of a ground or orbital facility, or off of a Carrier. usually they are assigned specific missions to launch from one point, fulfill the mission parameters, and return to base. Attack craft/Patrol Craft (Sloop): larger than Fighters, and more heavily armed than most with crews between 7 and 20, Attack and patrol craft also lack significant self sustaining capabilities for a long haul, and will be based close to a planet or station, or based off a carrier. Usually assigned to missions that can be achieved within a couple of days, a patrol route or swift assault and return. Corvette: Larger than the Sloop class with a bit more versatility in design, the Corvette Class usually has a crew in the 50's or 100's and is generally the smallest class of ship a fleet will assign to escort duty alone. They are also routinely used for Military patrol of contested areas, Support of a larger fleet action, troop support, and adding firepower to Fighter squadron actions. Frigate: The Smallest class of Military Starship that is classified as a "Capital Ship" (usually designated as being the flagship of a patrol group) the Frigate is larger than the Corvette class and has a respectable increase in armament. A variable multi-role ship, everything from command ship of a patrol unit, to support and fast attack capabilities, Frigates are usually deployed to compliment a taskforce to clean up smaller ships and in conjunction with a taskforce of similar sized ships, can even do a good job of taking out larger ships like Cruisers. Destroyer: Larger and more heavily armed than a Frigate, the Destroyer is designed to take on other capital ships. From Destroyer class on down and in groups even engage with larger ships. Relying on a combination of speed and firepower, the destroyer class tends to be a mainstay or "backbone" of most fleets. Used in assaults as well as defense, easily the most versatile type of Capital ship. Cruiser: The Smallest of the heaviest "Line" Capital ships, Cruisers come in a variety of forms, from light To heavy, Anti-Fighter or Torpedo, with size and armament to match, some are even close to battleships that armament may be the only determining factor between the two. Cruisers are primarily assault and taskforce command ships for groups of smaller ships. Not nearly as maneuverable as the Destroyer or Frigate, Cruisers tend to make up for it by packing a bigger "Punch" and having stronger defenses. Battleship: Battleships are built around a premise of Size and armament is better than speed or maneuverability. Designed to be effectively mobile siege and assault platforms from which enough firepower to devastate small moons can be unleashed. Although Cruisers and smaller ships may contain weaponry that can engage in planetary bombardment, the battleship is the primary class of ship that is expected to engage in such. Conventional warfare suggests the best way to deal with a battleship is to have one of your own (or preferably 2 or 3) to engage it while the smaller ships engage with each other. Dreadnought: Technically a class of battleship, it's listed separately because the sheer size and firepower of the class of battleship is nearly unmatched. With some of the heaviest weapons, longest rage for strikes, usually a Dreadnought class ship will have a singular "main cannon" Armarment (Usually so large it is forward facing only and built directly along the keel) that the entire ship needs to orient itself for targeting with. (Smaller ships may have such, though usually it's in replacement for other armaments which wouldn't fit with such a weapons system.) Prohibitively expensive for even most governments, Dreadnought's usually act as the command vessel for a taskforce they are assigned to, Though the Dreadnought itself tends to have enough firepower to be a taskforce all itself (the additional ships are to defend the Dreadnought against smaller faster moving craft who can inflict some damage if left unchecked). Carrier: Usually larger than even a Dreadnought, though most of that space is taken up with service and launch facilities for Fighters, the Carrier is usually less heavily armed than it's size would indicate. it makes up for this by having a wide variety of fighters and bombers and even Sloop attack craft it can launch from it's bays to engage with enemy ships. Some smaller ships may carry some fighters (Some Cruisers have a Single Squad of 12, and even a couple Destroyers will carry a flight of 4) But the Carrier carries anywhere between 4 Squadrons, on up to 14 or more squadrons of Fighters and bomber craft. Usually composed of facilities to launch and recover fighter craft spread across a couple of decks, the launch mechanisms for various craft are quite varied from long tunnels of accelerators, to a simple Crane attachment that extends with a whole flight of fighters held in place with clamps allowing them to launch all at once. Juggernaut: Like a all out engine for warfare, the Juggernaut class of ship is truly the largest, most heavy hitting, and expensive to operate and build ship any fleet could have. Usually measured in Kilometers of keel length, with the armament of a Dreadnought (or more) Coupled with the squadrons of fighters of a carrier with usually enough mass and power to be a Flying Metropolis ship bristling with armaments, it's rare that one will encounter a Juggernaut class ship. Those in service are usually reserved for command facilities for an entire armed space-force, and rarely are sent into battle unless absolutely necessary. A lot of times a Juggernaut class ship will enter service and see no action during it's lifetime till retirement as it's tasks are taken over by smaller and more cost effective ships, though the times they have entered into combat, little can stand in their way, and sometimes entire planets have been razed down to bare carbon and silica from the onslaught. ------- Other types: ''' There are several other types of Military ship that fall just outside of the previous categories, though usually they are more logistical and support type craft. '''Troop Transport: Usually between the size of a Corvette and a Cruiser, Troop transports are less likely to enter into space battles, and instead carry infantry (mechanized or regular) from one location to another. Essentially akin to mobile barracks for troops to reside in while in transit. usually equipped with several landing craft, boarding craft or smaller transport ships akin to Sloops for deployment of ground forces. Landing Craft: From Atmospheric drop ships that deploy forces from space to the ground, to boarding craft that latch onto airlocks or hull and carry troops from ship to surface or to other ships. Landing Craft come in a wide variety of forms and armaments, though usually none of their armaments are designed to compete with cannons of actual warships and usually rely on anti infantry turrets to clear an area to deploy their forces. Logistics Supply Frigates: A great many warships will have supplies on board sufficient for their operation and Crew for a deployment, however with battles comes damage and depletion, the Frigates that carry supplies for repairs, replenishment of armaments, food-stores, fuel and so on are the logistics force. You will usually find several Of these Frigates accompanying a fleet while it's in service, sometimes docked with a few craft at once to replenish their stores. Once depleted it's easier to Send a single frigate back for resupply rather than have half the fleet need to return for such after all. Medical Craft: Most military craft will have facilities to handle medical treatment on board, however in the damage sustained in a battle action, the number of beds that handle most patients can be inadequate to handle the sheer amount of even minor casualties received. Most fleets will have one ship dedicated to medical treatment and facilities. Usually targeting a Medical craft is considered barbaric even by the most bloodthirsty of opponents. usually somewhat civilized types will not target the enemy's medical ship because they also would not want their own targeted in return. it's one of the "unspoken rules" of combat. Communications/EW Craft: Communication is a key to modern types of conflict. Not only being able to ensure your own communications aren't understood, but also working to crack your enemies codes, as well as engage in Electronic countermeasure warfare. The EW craft is generally the furthest from a battle (back near the carriers and other support craft) Though it analyzes frequencies, communications encryption, works to try and "hack" the enemy's computer systems, or otherwise support one side and cause problems for the other, all while maintaining communications even when line of sight between two task forces is impossible.